CHEATING THE INDIANS !
Treaty with the Sioux — The Secretary of War has concluded a treaty with the Sioux delegation of Indians, at Washington, for the sale of their lands east of the Mississippi. The following extract from a letter in the Baltimore Transcript gives an idea of the ceremony: ‘The councils have been held in a church where a platform was raised, and to this the Indians ascended through a door under the pulpit. Nothing could be more striking than the scene presented as each plumed and painted savage rose like an apparition upon the stage, and after saluting Mr. Poinsett, and the Indian agent, strode majestically to his seat. It was quite melo-dramatic. Mr. Poinsett who takes a whiff of the pipe that opens the talk like an amateur, commenced the discussion by asking if they were ready to sign the treaty. They said yes, but poor fellows they held back for hours in evident disrelish for the deed. ……….They all said they agreed to the treaty, but it saddened them to part with the land where their fathers had hunted; after some hours passed in consultation, they stood round Mr.Poinsett and signed the treaty. It is said this land for which Uncle Sam gives $1,000,00 is worth twelve times that sum at least.’
(Liberator, Oct 13, 1837, pg 4)
